Malawi24 Editorial: Its harvest time indeed

…wake up Malawi

The world of football never stands still-the search for innovation, new ideas, fresh departures and consistent progress takes place every day.

During his manifesto launch for a fourth term at Crossroads hotel in Lilongwe, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) President Walter Nyamilandu said it was harvesting time in football in Malawi.

Little did we know that he meant the opposite of what he said on that day. Ever since taking over some 12 years ago, Malawi’s football has completely gone down.

The downfall of the Malawi National Team is one of the clear indications that the current administration has nothing new to offer to Malawians.

The 3-nil demolition of Malawi in Zimbabwe on Sunday is just an icing on the cake. Gone are the days where we used to stun bigger national teams using the same players with the little resources we have in the country.

We had a strong team that made it to Afcon finals in Angola in 2010 and that team reached Cosafa Castle Cup finals twice between 2002 and 2003.

The team in mention was developed from Under 15, 17, 20 and then Under 23. By then, the FA had structures in place for the development of young players ready for the national team.

Ever since that team vanished, Malawi is failing to replace it. The likes of Peter Mponda, Elvis Kafoteka, Swadick Sanudi, Hellings Mwakasungula, Fischer Kondowe, James Chilapondwa, Esau Kanyenda, Russel Mwafulirwa, Victor Phiri, Maupo Msowoya, Robert Ng’ambi and Moses Chavula were developed using the junior teams.

Years down the line, the so called FA has failed to establish junior national teams but they have only managed to produce the ‘Malawi National Football problem’.

Let’s be honest here, Nyamilandu is the worst FA President ever in the history of Malawian football. Why? Can all these bad performances the team has showed cased not tell us something? 

In 2008, our Under-17 National Team won Zone 6 championship in South Africa and we had all the hopes that the team will graduate to Under-20 but nothing happened. Limbikani Mzava is the only product from that team playing for Malawi today.

In 2014, our Under-20 competed in the African Youth Championship where the likes of Ernest Tambe, Isaac Mwale, Isaac Kaliyati, Brighton Munthali, Miracle Gabeya, Levison Maganizo, Stanley Sanudi and Boston Kabango were used.

As Malawians, we thought the team will also graduate to the Under-23 but alas, there was no Under-23, forcing Ernest Mtawali to draft the youngsters into the main team.

If the association is considering to fire Mtawali, Nyamilandu and his entire team must go first. These bunch of losers are responsible for the downfall of our team.

Nyamilandu is a leader without a vision hence having no proper structures for proper transition.

He has destroyed our football and if he wanted us to harvest this way, then he have failed us big time.

There is no shortcut to success, having the main team without junior teams is just a waste of our time plus our taxes. Some of the players in the team don’t deserve to put on that precious jersey but because we have no choice, they are there.

Even if you bring in Jose Mourinho and other top manager you would want to name to succeed Mtawali, nothing will change, we don’t have skilled players because we neglected the development teams.

Firing coaches could also make the continue to tumble that way. Why? Because over these years every coach has brought in his ‘own’ players and what happens in the end. We dont have a complete known team. It would be cheap of us to compare our team with Germany, but look at this, the Germany has been the same. You would only note a few changes to the squad when it plays.

This does not just bring good coordination to the team, it also brings a fighting spirit because the players give out their best because they know theres stiff competition for the positions. But what happens here? Any players who perform well in a league is guaranteed a place in the squad.

Can we not for once show the squad is hard to get into?

The naked fact is Malawians have lost the trust in the team and the comments the social media had on that ‘fateful’ Sunday afternoon could well tell the lost trust in the Flames.

Where is the Flames we knew could win everywhere? Where are those ideas that helped the Flames come from behind to draw 2-all in Tunisia.

It could be a collective problem perhaps but change is a thing every Malawian wants now.

At Malawi24 we believe the Malawi team can equally perform wonders just as our neighboring countries and it starts with leadership.

It’s time for a change, hiring and firing of coaches will not bring results, dynamic leadership will do, it’s either you do the right thing or bust. Failures are not needed in football.